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The point being, any sportsbook manager worth his weight would have to have recognized that Baltimore -6 was simply a bad line and they would have done something about it.
Not anymore. They just blindly accept the baaaa baaaaaaa-d line. The outcome is irrelevant as the Steelers did go on to win that game. What is relevant is that the bookmaker has no clue. He’s an imposter. He’s not a bookie. He’s a clerk. This ‘wizard’ of odds is hiding behind a curtain. He has become a Walmart greeter as he smiles and waves. He is assigned to change numbers in the same fashion that gas station owners change theirs. The entire process borders on collusion.
There is a business side to it, of course. Books don’t want to be on an island with a unique pointspread as that spread will draw one-way action only. We get that. Unfortunately, such conformity has destroyed the ingenuity of the game. Rest in peace, Mr. Bookmaker.
— The Falcons were pretty much in control from the get-go in their win and cover against the Broncos on Sunday. Atlanta led 27-6 but then Atlanta went Atlanta. Suddenly, it was 34-27 with 1:46 remaining. Broncos were out of timeouts. Falcons had the ball at Denver’s 40-yard line. Run it out, right? Atlanta tried. But with 53 ticks left and a third down coming, the Falcons committed an illegal formation penalty which Denver declined in order to stop the clock. Rather than run it down to about 10 seconds after punting, Atlanta gave the ball back to the Broncos with 44 seconds to play. Denver couldn’t do anything with it but the Falcons once again sabotaged themselves, fortunately avoiding another disastrous finish. You just have wonder how they allow such stupidity to occur time and time again.
